At the present time several types of equipment exist for eliminating light fibrous particles in the manufacture of paper, amongst which we can mention the following:
Cyclonic cleaners, which eliminate heavy particles and light particles at the same time. This type of equipment is commonly known in the market as a tri-cleaner (light and heavy cleaner), and is built basically in the following manner:
In the upper part it has the form of a cylindrical body, and in the lower part, that of a lengthened conical body. Feeding is made tangentially through the upper part and by means of a pump; the liquid, upon separation, turns in the cleaner and heavy particles travel towards the lower part and are eliminated through a small hole. Light bodies are maintained in the inner part of the vortex and eliminated through a small extractor tube which sends these contaminants towards the upper or lower external part indiscriminately, according to the characteristic design of this equipment. The clean or partially clean fibers are extracted by the upper part and sent for processing.
Is is difficult for this type of cleaner to eliminate the air and inks trapped in the fibers.
Inverse cleaners--These cleaners are commonly known in the market as reverse cleaners. This equipment is built in an elongated conical form. Feeding is made through the conical part with the largest diameter, and acceleration of the particles, originated by hydraulic force, forces the fibers and heavier elements to circulate through the periphery and to be extracted by the lower part of the cone, that is, by the smallest part of the cone. Light bodies are extracted from the internal part of the vortex through a small hole connected to a tube, and are sent outside either through the upper or lower part of the light particles cleaner.
This type of cleaner hardly eliminates the air and inks trapped in the fibers.
Horizontal rotation equipment (Glyroclean)--The third item or type of equipment existing in the market for separating light particles consists of horizontal rotation equipment which maintains the fibrous suspension in its lower part.
When this equipment rotates, heavy particles are carried to the periphery, while light particles remain in the central part of the equipment. Extraction takes place through one of the ends of the equipment.
The differences existing between the equipment of the present invention and that presently on the market are the following:
None of the tri-cleaners or reverse cleaners achieve as high an acceleration of particles as the equipment of the invention; moreover, cleaning efficiency is fairly low.
The main difference as compared with gyroclean is that gyroclean rotates horizontally and all the liquid travels through its lower part in such a way that those accepted must exit through the central side part of the drum. This leads to heavy contaminants being retained in the inner part of the drum due to the high acceleration to which they are submitted, leading to extreme vibrations which, at a given moment, could damage the equipment or oblige a stop for cleaning.
The equipment of the present invention does not do this, since the cup makes the particles being extracted travel upwards, after which they travel downwards outside the cup and are eliminated in a section which separates the heavy particles.